tribute #109 - right knee

if brain, and memory are separate persons,
renounceable from citizenship of body empire,
Nominee has been dissident since grade 6.

I'll be walking fine. then Judas conscientiously
objects to bearing weight, drops, or, guerillas,
threads clicking beads, or pain skewers.

tribute #108 - waitress

I like how our normal messes with expectations --
my ordering meat, Bri ordering salad and dessert.
the waitress switches orders. later she asks together
or separate bills? and giving bill to him, I pay.
assumption breaking -- it confuses the lasses.

tribute #107 - the brain

cleave that sucker off as a separate entity. I disavow culpability.
when I said - please sleep, no more sexual dreams of people
I know, don't be so literal! dear sock monkey, what we did, er,
didn't do. and Kermie...

anecdote #53 - the gifter

spieled on about how she saw this object;
it "absolutely screamed Pearl".

I unwrapped a folk art painting
of a pear on a plate.

either she's way wrong or
reality check: *that's* how I present.

I need a makeover consultant.

anecdote #52 - student after hours

creep-o-meter Bing
uneven energy

then I was back to wall
his forearm on my neck
calling me whore

I talked him down,
considered the matter closed
-- mental health issues
not legal or interpersonal.

done. but still I wake from it.

anecdote #51 - Michaëlle Jean

the public question was leading, conspiratorial rambling blame.
her face was open, relaxed, engaged,
shoulders back, chest open, voice modulated
-- signatures of diplomatic training, not Feelings.
not exacerbating incoming: feedback reply skillful, wise.
(briefly, one telltale fist tattling on lap)

tribute #106 - John Lavery

said, individuals can dream
but a society can't.
literature is how a culture dreams

my back, legs, hands loosened tension
that they'd forgotten they'd held

as he sang, played classical guitar,
some beastie inside began purring,
alert. his energy's good.

collective #14 - public mic persons

titters mount at feckless grandstanders
lobbing speeches at invited experts
who aren't given response time

rants phrased as rhetorical questions they answer
squandering (6 minutes) x (200 present) = 20 hours

could you end your questions with a question mark?
- David Byrne

anecdote #50 - haircutter

measured hair length by sliding fingers down length
at uneven speeds. dropping combs...

there are words
in practice
one doesn't want to hear.
as scissors cut, oops is one,
multiplied by repetitions.

on off-days she's still more skilled than me.

anecdote #49 - person in ad

in the phone booths corporate slick sex number ads are common enough.

this pencil-written,
"clean, discreet, no cash involved, u must be of age, I give good head"

I have qualms of leaving
and of removing.
was I patronizing, interfering?

anecdote #48 - S

ssssputtering after her pebble gaze
once she'd turned, I exclaimed
we've met 4 times, litanied off when, where and she doesn't remember me. at. all.

other asked who?
I pointed, blanked on her name.

humbleness, you've come to visit
again?

tribute #105 - Scott

when I was 7, he was The Tallest Man
a jock who got into scraps

he last saw me when I was 10 --
said I've the same face as then

we're dots on either side of 40
retelling time's upshots

tribute #104 - Lisa

Lisa told E that her flower is pretty.
when E fell, called her honey and picked her up
and kissed her. Lisa runs a daycare, "has a way with kids"
Little E, in her shell, opened screaming laughter, fierce hugs.

tribute #103 - Russian home buyer

the professional lady was characteristically quiet, tactful,
whip-smart, a little apart from the rest. when she disappeared
people asked after her. she reappeared one day mid-class
with insistence that everyone try this: champagne
crackers and caviar for 40. a homeowner.

tribute #102 - F

was the nightmare student who would not try anything
but would not leave. a conscientious objector to use of:
music, TV, textbooks, no textbooks, newspapers, men,
group work, solo work, essentially, me. office's
spot inspection? she declared me racist. clamor.

tribute #101 - Danielle

raises consciousness about homeless humanity in slam, my fellow clown, caller to higher potential for workaday world -- "Why are you doing what you're doing? Why aren't you doing what you love?" -- has out an Optimism is a Constant Struggle CD